Traditional point of sale terminals comprise primarily a cash register that interfaces with separate hardware for entering purchases and receiving payment. Such hardware may include optical scanners such as bar code readers and QR code readers for quickly generating purchase orders. The legacy point of sale terminals also commonly include magnetic strip card readers for processing payments. However, these legacy systems do not allow for integration with mobile technology.
Wireless point of sale terminals have been developed. However, these have suffered from several deficiencies, including especially a large space profile, separate manufactures for various components that must be joined together. These older wireless point of sale terminals have been required to be compatible with specific processors.
Payment systems and processes could be improved by better integration of the components and better collection and use of consumer data.